"I don't kill people because I'd get caught" is probably true for most people.
If you lived in a society where killing didn't tend to be punished, you'd probably kill. Because if you didn't you'd be dead. Don't underestimate people's tendency to adapt to their environments.
I get what you are saying, but I think if you look at it in the big picture, sites which require real names (and sites that otherwise reward you for gaining a positive reputation over the long term) tend not to degenerate into cesspools of ugliness. It may be partly because the non-civil go elsewhere, but I think it also is because it encourages civility from those who are there.
Sociological studies bla, bla - TL;DR: You are more civil when people recognize you. You are more likely to act in the "interest of the group" when you sign stuff with your real name. At least that's the state of the research to my best knowledge.
This paper [0] compares newspaper comment systems that allow anonymity against others that require names, and finds more civil discourse on named discussions - the assumption seems to be that people are not picking their newspaper site based on comments protocol, therefore the anonymity is causing the uncivility. There is surprisingly little research visible when I googled just now.
Why do you care how someone achieves a positive result? If we're all being nice to each other because of the fear of punishment, I think the system is working as intended! If I'm not being killed, I'm happy!
If you lived in a society where killing didn't tend to be punished, you'd probably kill. Because if you didn't you'd be dead. Don't underestimate people's tendency to adapt to their environments.
I get what you are saying, but I think if you look at it in the big picture, sites which require real names (and sites that otherwise reward you for gaining a positive reputation over the long term) tend not to degenerate into cesspools of ugliness. It may be partly because the non-civil go elsewhere, but I think it also is because it encourages civility from those who are there.